Australia does Paris-Roubaix: by the numbers

Author

Associate Professor, Centre for Cultural Diversity and Wellbeing, Victoria University

Disclosure statement

Craig Fry is a freelance writer (www.pushbikewriter.com), and associate professor of public health at the Centre for Cultural Diversity and Wellbeing, Victoria University. On Twitter and Instagram @pushbikewriter

Paris-Roubaix is one of the most popular races on the world professional cycling calendar for Australian fans. As I have written elsewhere, Australian cycling has a deep connection with this 121-year-old race also widely known as the ‘Hell of the North’, and the ‘Queen of the Classics’.

Australian history

The first Australian cyclists to tackle the infamously difficult Paris-Roubaix, did so in 1914 (19th edition), just before World War I put everything on hold until 1919. That group of pioneers included Iddo Munro, Don Kirkham, Charlie Snell, George Bell and Charlie Piercey.1914 Paris-Roubaix start line.Wikipedia commons

Munro finished a very creditable 34th in 1914 (7 minutes behind the winner), followed by Snell 57th and Bell 64th. Piercey was forced to abandon after breaking a wheel, and Kirkham couldn’t continue after breaking his bike. After Paris-Roubaix, Munro and Kirkham went on to ride in the 1914 Tour de France – Australia’s first entrants in the biggest road race of them all.

The rest, as they say, is history - and what a fine history of Australian cycling feats on the world stage it has proven to be.
The Australian group who first rode Paris-Roubaix in 1914: George Bell, Don Kirkham, Charlie Snell, Charlie Piercey, Snowy Munro.author provided

Since that first attempt at the famous Paris-Roubaix classic, a further 35 Australians have lined up at the start line over the years in search of personal glory or in support of others. This list has included some of our greatest ever cyclists – Russell Mockridge, Phil Anderson, Dean Woods, and Robbie McEwen to name just some.

Again, these names include some of Australia’s most successful cyclists at the highest domestic and international levels - accomplished elite cyclists all of them, which gives an additional indicator of the difficulty of Paris-Roubaix.
2016 Paris-Roubaix winner Mat Hayman.Getty Images

115th edition of Paris-Roubaix in 2017

Australian cycling fans will be delighted to see six of their countrymen will be starting in the 2017 Paris-Roubaix tonight. The Orica-Scott team is fielding a strong line up of very experienced campaigners and elite newcomers - the Australian riders are:

The other Australians on the start line include Will Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac) who is riding his second Paris-Roubaix, and Miles Scotson (BMC) in his first, and flying the national colours as the current Australian road champion.

People all over Australia will be watching the race live on SBS Viceland from 9:30pm AEST tonight, or catching the live stream earlier on the SBS Cycling Central website from around 7:15pm. The race is also being broadcast live in Australia on Eurosport (access via Foxtel channel 511), and growing numbers also follow along on Twitter (#ParisRoubaix).